Folding-leg furniture.



J. C. NICHOL.

FOLDING LEG FURNITURE. APPLxcATloN FILED JULY 5.1918.

1,298,249. Patented Mur, 25,1919.

,-mnuumm ummmlmmlummmmnummuuummm-- E f2 f RTT'K JOHN CHRISTOPHER NICHOL,OF PERTH, ONTARIO, CANADA.

FOLDING-LEG FURNITURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 25, 1919.

Application alea nuy 5, 191s. seriai No. 243,461.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, .Tor-IN CHRISTOPHER NIoHoL, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at the town of Perth, 1n the county of Lanark,in the Province of Ontario, Canada 7 have invented new and usefulFolding-Leg Furniture, of which the following is a specification.

The invention, which will be hereinafter fully set forth and claimed,relates to tables, chairs, beds and other furniture having legs andparticularly to the manner in which such legs and their attachments maybe constructed and appplied, so that the4 legs may be folded fortransportation and other purposes and held securely in place when sofolded or when the furniture is set up for use. i

Figure l is a plan of the underside of the table, showing the legsfoldedv and parts broken out, showing construction.

Fig. 2 is a side-view of the same; part broken out.

Fig. 3 is a partial side-view of the same, showing the legs set up andthe table ready for use, and

Fig. 4 is a partial end view o f the same.

My invention is shown as applied to table only; it will be readilyunderstood, however, that it may be applied to chairs, cots, and thelike in the same manner.

To the underside of the table top, A, serving as base, is secured arectangular frame consisting of two -longitudinal rails, B, B, connectedat each end by a cross bar, C. This frame may be secured to the top byscrews or in any other manner desired. The rails, B, are of considerabledepth at the ends, as seen in Fig. 3, and reduced in the centralportion, but this is not essential, as they may be of uniform depth ifdesired, but depth is required near the ends. Transverse rods, D, D, arepassed through these rails near their ends at some distance from the topD; the ends of these rods roject beyond the outside of the rails B anform pivots for the legs, E, or the rod may turn with the legs like ashaft.

At the pivot ends, the legs bear on the side of the rails B and areYtapered off on the inner side, as clearly seen in Fig. 1. Their upperends extend upward beyond the pivot close to the underside of the top Aand the ends are rounded in the direction of their swing, as shown at c,Fig. 2, so as to swing clear. In the present illustration the lower endsof the legs will be seen to overlap, a circumstance that would not existin a longer table. The taper, also, is a matter of taste, as is theinclination, as seen in Fig. 3. Each pair of legs on the same pivot isconnected near the top by a transverse metallic frame, F, (Figs. l and4, but also visible in the other figures) which acts as a connectingbrace, firmly connecting the legs to compel the pair to move in unisonand serves as a part of a lock. The ends, f, of this brace are made wideand are secured to the face of the legs (screws being shown in thedrawing) and the central part is narrower and is formed with a recess,f1, (Fig. l) in the upper edge. A lug, f2, projects laterally outwardnear the top edge at each end of the brace and on these lugs are hookedand secured two tension springs, G, G, one on each side, thus linkingthe two frames together and drawing the upper ends of the legs towardone another longitudinally.

A plate spring, H, is secured to the underside of the top A about thecenter line and near each end, as shown in Fig. l and visible in theother figures. Each of these springs has its free end, h, projectingbeyond the cross bar C and passing through a check on the latter, bentdownward and made to eX- ert `a downward pressure. (The checked crossbar C is shown `at the left hand of Fig. 2 in cross section). The end his made long enough to form a suitable finger piece and is notchedlaterally to form a pair of shoulders, h1, h1, (Fig. l) and a neck h2.The lat- 'ter is adapted to pass through the recess f1 in the frame Fand the shoulders h1 engage the front face of the frame when the legsare set up and prevent the legs from folding involuntarily. Thus thelegs can only be folded when the spring is pressed upward toward the topA, disengaging it from the frame F. The inner face of the latter abutson the bar C and prevents the legs from spreading longitudinally.

The device works simply. If the legs are set up, as in Figs. 3 and 4,and it is desired to fold them, the spring H is pressed upward towardthe top, thus liberating the frame F and with it the legs E which may beswung inward into the position shown in Figs. l and 2 and the springs Grhold them firmly in that position. For setting up the legs, they aresimply swung outward, at

VH engaging the frame F automatically at the end of the swing and thuslocking the legs in their position.

While I have shown and described the,

preferred embodiment of my invention it Will be understood that minorchanges in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may bemade Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asclaimed.,

I claim as Iny invention l. In folding-leg furniture, the com-binationWith a top as a base, of a rectangular frame secured to it, a transversepivot rod at each end passing through the sides of said frame near theends and some distance from the top, a pair of legs at each endmoun-tedupon'the. projecting ends of said rod and having their upperends extending beyond the pivot and close to the top and said endsrounded to clear said top, a transverse connecting piece bracing theupper parts of each pair of legs, said connecting Y piece formed With arecess in the upper edge and having ,laterally projecting lugs near thtop, a vtension-spring on each side secured upon said lugs and linkingthe tWo end frames together, and a notch plate-spring Copies of thispatent may be obtained for near each end secured to the top and havingto hold the legs in position, substantiallyv as set forth.V Y

2. In folding-leg furniture, the combination with a base, such as atabletop, of side rails secured to the underside of said base,transverse rods passing through said rails near their ends and somedistance from the base, legs mounted upon the projecting ends o-f saidrods having their ends extended beyond the pivot center and rounded toswing clear of the base, a brace connecting the upper ends of each pairof legs, said brace formed With a recess in the top edge and withlaterally projecting lugs, springs secured to the lugs of opposite pairsand a plate spring secured to the base and having neck and shouldersengaging the connecting braces and forming a lock to keep the legs inposition, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have aifiXed my signature, in the presence of tWosubscribing Witnesses JOHN CHRISTOPHER NICHOL. Witnesses MAE DAROW,SAMUEL THORNBURY.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner'of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

tension c

